luke_stevens

I believe Rapido did the same for Rails with one of it's GWR vans (mink?). I hate the duplication but good behaviour always helps :) And I've got the Railtech Decals for renumbering... https://railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=1908

Nobody expects....

"I'll come in again..." L

And 01:30 when getting back from an exhibition...

There are times the operations have considered this... 🤣

And if someone does know then Paul wants them behind the layout operating it!

That is the way it feels sometimes :0 But we try and hide that from the viewers!!! L :)

Rule 1) it's your railway, you can run what you want!

Better background, artificial lighting and an A4 & Mk1. Daylight is fading... Not quite sure how and why an A4 is hauling a tired Siphon G through ex-NSE territory... The A4 (& Mk) need a little weathering... The front piece of field is a spare piece of, I think, Noch field. It is the base of the embankments but they have been worked on. The spare piece helps the photos :)

Very almost done!. The body isn't yet glued to the chassis and I need to add the brake cylinder but it's near enough done. 4 photos on the turntable and 2 on the diorama (I need a better background!)

Quick up-date. The corridor fret was to wide for step blanks so I cut some 10thou by 40thou strip (cut because I'd run out and only had 30thou and 60thou) from white styrene. Put in place with superglue then hand painted with the LifeColour Blue. Note to self LifeColour doesn't give a good finish when hand painted!). I then glued the corridor connections in place and gave the body a coat of AK Interactive matt varnish. But the varnish had "gone off" leaving it lumpy. I'd strained the varnish before airbrushing but it didn't give a consistent finish. So I dumped the varnish and this evening gave the body a couple of light cotes of MIG Matt varnish which is much better https://www.migjimenez.com/en/acrylic-colors/1191-matt-lucky-varnish.html Photos Tomorrow :) Luke

Slight change of plan... I completed the corridor connections, only to find that I had over compressed them, so the diagonal cross pieces were too big. Entirely my fault. So I bent the diagonal cross pieces to fit and then gave them a coat of LifeColour weathered black, along with the buffer beam, buffers, foot steps and a little puff on the bogies above the axle boxes where the balance "yoke" rests. I was worried that the end steps might not be rigid enough for normal handling. They are made of stiff card but... So I gave them a coat of thin super glue on both sides. This has strengthened them significantly. But I woke up in the middle of last night having realised that they would have been removed once electrification was being introduced, as happened to Mk 1's. So rather than fit them I've painted up some spare fret from the corridor connection and am going to blank them off.

I've had problems before with matt varnish aerosols coming out semi-gloss but when I sprayed a coat of Humbrol Gloss acrylic varnish I was surprised that gave me a gloss & matt combo. I let it cure for 24hr and then gave the body a coat of AK Interactive 3 Gen Gloss Varnish, thinned with a version 2 thinner, as I don't have any Gen 3 thinner. 3G Gloss varnish https://ak-interactive.com/product/varnish-gloss-100ml/ 3G Thinner https://ak-interactive.com/product/ak11500-thinner-100ml/ and the thinner I used (and all was fine) Acrylic Thinner https://ak-interactive.com/product/acrylic-thinner/ The next day I masked the body with Tamiya 6mm masking tape (https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/87030/index.htm) and Windsor & Newton masking fluid (because my Humbrol Maskol is starting to go off). To paint the roof I used a combination of Lifecolour Roof Dirt and LifeColour Weathered Black, both from the LifeColour Rail Weathering set Rail Weathering Set https://www.astromodelstore.com/cs21-rail-weathering.html Roof Dirt https://www.astromodelstore.com/catalogsearch/result/?SID=e5tk00j2bk45j4sjvveolcanl5&___store=en&q=UA+722+Roof+Dirt&___from_store=it Weathered Black https://www.astromodelstore.com/catalogsearch/result/?SID=e5tk00j2bk45j4sjvveolcanl5&___store=en&q=UA+723+Weathered+Black&___from_store=it (fuzzy...) I'll be fitting the end steps and corridor connections tomorrow...

Very definitely coming round the last bend or two. The Lifecolour was glossy enough that I didn't need to gloss varnish the body before I applied the Rail-Tech decals. https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=5735 The spacing of the lines of lettering was just too big for the plank spacing so I added the lettering one line at a time. From the photos I have of the internal bracing Siphon G's, the data panel is at the bottom right... but there was no way I could fit all the data into that space. By moving 2 panels to the left there is a panel that is big enough. I started with the bottom row of data and moved up one line at a time. As I said I would I combined the "W1304" from "W1310" and "W1048". It didn't go as neatly as I had hoped with the "04" being a little droopy on one side. To fix the transfers more firmly I gave it a light coat of MicroSet (from Microscale) which is when the "04" moved. I let the model dry, ran the back of a scalpel lightly along the planks spaces, recoated with MicroSet, let it dry and then a sparing application of MicroSol. MicroSet http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MI-1 MicroSol http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MI-2 I'm not sure I actually needed to add the "Siphon G" marking but it was present on at least one of the blue Siphons, so I did. And this is the one with the droopy "04". To the right is the panel where the data wouldn't fit.

I've smoothed the inside of the bogie underframe and there doesn't seem to be anything for the screw to "catch on to" but I will keep it in mind. Luke

I am tempted to add a little putty / filler to the small section of the screw thread where the bogie touches it to give a smoother bearing surface but I'm unlikely to be running long enough trains for the pull to make a difference. The ply used in this kit is of a high quality and quite robust. Luke

When I started this build I made them aware :) Many if not most of the modifications I'm making are either my choice to change / improve / further detail or my misunderstanding of the instructions. I will give them any further feedback notes when I have finished.

Good idea! It could be replaced with a grubby YZ22 releasing the caboose for other purposes :) Luke

And on with the solebar and steps. 1) One issue I had found was that the chassis was reluctant to traverse tight curves (Hornby R2 @ 310mm) but this may be a result of me over smoothing the bogie bolsters. To ease this I filed / cut away some of the framing by the wheels so the didn't rub but I realised that with the L girder I could remove the offending parts of the underframe completely, leaving the L girder to provide the strength. In the photo below the L girders have been cut to length and you can see where I trimmed the underframe. 2) The seriously trimmed underframe and the completed solebar & foot boards. 3) Solebars attached to the underframe, using the same medium speed superglue that I use to attach the steps to the L girder. It's going to need another coat of paint or two...

When we tried to run it before one of the continual problems was the crane boom. When it went into a curve the boom would stick out and sideswipe passing trains. Has there been any progress on getting the boom to follow the preceding flat car so this no longer happens. As a back up could the boom car and flat car be reversed so the boom trails the direction of movement not proceeds it? Then even if the boom occasionally stuck out it would be pushed back in place by an opposing train rather than behaving like a knight with a lance on a horse? Luke

Having looked at the L angle, the phosphor brass strip and prototype photos it's time for a change of plan with the solebars. The phosphor brass just doesn't look solid enough for the foot boards so I'm going to use some of the spare wood frame. The Siphon G book has a drawing of an earlier batch (with a different underframe) but enough info to start creating parts. I better explain the funny triangle... The drawing is bigger than the model so I want to scale measurements down. Rather than taking a measurement, converting it, taking another measurement (with the options for errors at each stage) I drew up a "scaling triangle" (which probably has a better name...). On the vertical axis is the length of the model, the diagonal line is the length of the diagram. on end of the line is on the model line at the point where the length of the model is marked. The other end of the line is on the line where the other end of the model is marked. I then marked off the positions of the foot boards and their lengths. I then used a set square to draw parallel lines from the marks on the diagonal line to the vertical line. I can then just measure off the dimensions for the model. (That's a really unclear explanation, sorry) Scaling a drawing.pdf In the next photo I'm cutting the foot steps having chopped up the "scale triangle" so I can use it as a template. The L girder was pickled in vinegar (mild acid) to clean, then rinsed. rubbed down with an abrasive cream bath cleaner, re-rinsed, dried and the chemically blackened. The steps will be fitted with superglue once the L has been cut to length. It will then be fitted o the chassis, but I want to do some more work on the underframe first...

Daylight check on the BR Blue looks good. The only traces of the other blue is in the ventilated sections and I'll be applying a dark wash there anyway. Moving onto the corridor connections... the kit provides a fret of medium thickness black card with he corridor connection end plates, the scissors and the concertinas. I tried making the first fold against a sharp edge and the bend surface was not good, so for the rest I used the back of a blunt knife to inscribe a fold lines on both sides along the fold marks, using the now-surplice clamping piece. Folded, glued and clamped...

Since Thursday I've given the body another 2 coats of 71.090, concentrating the second onto the edges, nooks and places the spray wasn't easily going. This evening I gave the body the first coat of Lifecolour BR blue. I slightly over thinned the paint and the first coat was a dust coat, followed some detail spray work, then another wider coat from further away. It will probably need a further coat when I've checked it in daylight... Being a modeller I just can build a kit without changing, adapting or modifying... I had delivered this morning a piece of 1.5mm by 1.0mm brass L girder, 1.0mm phosphor bronze strip, 0.3mm brass wire and 5x 0.3mm drill bits. The first two are going to be used to create a lower solebar and, possibly, the foot boards for under the doors. The brass wire and drill bit _may_ be used to make hand and end-rails. Or not if I can't make them or it's just too damned fiddly :) I got a confirmation e-mail that the Rail-Tec decals are on their way :) I can almost see the finish post! Luke

Probably says more about 3mm practice :) Luke

For TT120 it should be 18.4 to 18.6. https://www.morop.org/images/NEM_register/NEM_E/nem314_en_2006.pdf I wonder if they can be got to the correct length? They should also be on a 1.5mm axle. Luke